Question

Database: Students are instructed to download the data set for this case from the website or to request them from their instructor.

Objectives: To encourage students to think about sampling issues as well as ethical issues.

Summary: TABH consulting specializes in research for automobile dealers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. While most of their research is custom, they also produce a monthly “white paper” that is sold via their Web site. This off-the-shelf research is purchased by other research firms and by companies within the auto industry. This month, the research is analyzing the viability of college students attending schools located in small college towns as a potentially underserved market segment.

Michel Gonzalez, a junior analyst assigned to this project, contacts the traffic departments at Cal Poly University and at Central Missouri State University (Note: this university is now named University of Central Missouri) to obtain data from the students’ automobile parking registration records. Both schools are willing to provide anonymous data records for a limited number of students, and Cal Poly allowed Michel a chance to visit during the registration period. This allowed Michel to intercept students near the registration window in exchange for Michel purchasing a booth at the school’s career fair. The information results in a small data set consisting of observations from 100 undergraduate college students in Pomona, California. The data collected includes sex, color of car, major, grade, whether a student’s car is financed, whether the student lives on campus or commutes, and a cartoon about the type of car they would like to purchase.

The purpose of the white paper is to offer car dealers considering new locations a comparison of the profile of a small town university with the primary market segments for their particular automobile. TABH wants to appeal to companies with high sales growth in the U.S. (i.e., Kia and Hyundai), and potentially European auto dealerships currently without significant U.S. distribution (i.e., Smart). TABH also hopes the white paper may eventually lead to a customized project for one of these companies.

The general research question is: What are the automobile market segment characteristics of students attending U.S. universities in small towns?

Questions

1.   What types of tests can be performed using the data that may at least indirectly address the primary research question?

2.   What do you think the primary conclusions of the white paper will be based on the data provided?

  3.   Assuming a small college town lacked an auto dealership (beyond Ford, GM, and Chrysler), what two companies should be most interested in this type of location? Use the Internet if necessary to perform some cursory research on different car companies.

4.   What are the weaknesses in basing decisions on this type of research?

5.   Are there key issues that may diminish the usefulness of this research?

6.   What kinds of themes might emerge from the cartoon drawings?

7.   Are there any ethical dilemmas presented in this case?

Answer 1

1. What types of tests can be performed using the data that may at least indirectly address the primary research question?

The data to the question of the research can be used for descriptive analysis. As indicated in our text, the descriptive analysis has summarized a large group of responders' responses and interprets the raw data in order to describe the basic properties such as the central trend, distribution and variability. Data outcomes can be put in this scenario in a frequency table which shows the results of the surveys.. Of the 110 participants , for example, 54 are going to school, or 57 of the 110 respondents have paid for their driving vehicles.

1. What do you think the primary conclusions of the white paper will be based on the data provided?

The most easy way to reach the conclusion about this study is by frequencies. Frequencies can be graphically represented and represent survey results visually in the easiest way. Based on the data submitted, 90 percent of female students go to school daily in the market sector, 63 percent of women finance their vehicle, and 75 percent prefer the white and blue red car to be driven by the U.S. university. 70% of men, on the other hand, travel to school on a daily basis, 38% finance their cars and 40% prefer blue cars, 15% prefer white and 15% prefer to red cars. These are the following:

1. Assuming a small college town lacked an auto dealership (beyond Ford, GM, and Chrysler), what two companies should be most interested in this type of location? Use the Internet if necessary to perform some cursory research on different car companies.

After some researchers, Honda and Toyota should be the two companies that should be most interested in this small town. A study by compare.com found that Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Altima are the five cars driven most frequently by university students. Honda cars proved safe, fuel efficient and insurance-efficient. Likewise, Toyota Camry and Corolla are both reliable, offer good fuel economy, and cover some of the cheapest models. (Compare n.d.) Those are important features to be considered as they are responsible for monthly payments for things such as insurance, gas, and maintenance, despite a student paying cash for their new vehicle. Insurance is a major factor in the academic sphere that students should use in their assessment before they decide to buy a vehicle, because it is one of the costliest. (Tomer, n.d.) This makes, I believe, two companies good competitors for the small town of college.

1. What are the weaknesses in basing decisions on this type of research?

Although descriptive stats contribute to the simplification in a sensitive way of large volumes of data, one of the most important weaknesses lies in the fact that data are limited and allows researchers only to summarize those surveyed. Therefore, only other small town college students may be utilized or applicable to the results for this survey.

1. Are there key issues that may diminish the usefulness of this research?

The survey results, as already mentioned, only enable the researcher to assume that the students who received registration documents and those students surveyed at the Cal Poly career fair were provided. Pomona is also not as small as any other college town in the surrounding area. About 47,716 residents of Pomona are enlisted at school. This is 3.8 times the number of other college towns surrounding it. Claremont, for instance, has approximately 35,949 inhabitants and an estimated 12,618 are enrolled in school. The collected data may therefore not represent a 'small college town' accurately.

1. What kinds of themes might emerge from the cartoon drawings?

Answers were asked to draw the car in the form of a cartoon as an animal. While the scientist wanted to find the deeper meaning of each drawing, it was not included in the report. 46 students drew a mule, 32 a dog drew, and 32 a cat drew. The students perception of their cars may emerge from the cartoon diagrams. Perhaps 42% of students associate mules with their vehicles, because mules have been used for transport and their incredible strength and durability. The remaining 58 percent of students interpret a car as something they have to take care of, such as a pet. The cartoon drawing also deals with the fact that most of the students of the liberal arts have shown their cars as mule.

1. Are there any ethical dilemmas presented in this case?

The school providing student registration documents can be a potential ethical dilemma. However, the anonymous confidentiality of the data collected has been respected. This may be something else

David had to "purchase" the chance to collect data through a college-level workshop stand payment. How the results of this research b are going to be another potential ethical dilemma